OverviewSen. John McCain made a major effort to
win South Carolina primary, hoping to benefit from the state's large veteran
population. McCain visited the state frequently and his campaign
organized steadily throughout 1999. On Feb. 19, 1999 the campaign
announced it was hiring Richard A. Quinn and his firm Richard Quinn &
Assoc. as chief political strategists for South Carolina. On June
4 Reps. Lindsey Graham and Mark Sanford joined as state co-chairmen (Speaker
Pro Tem Terry Haskins was also co-chair). By July 29 McCain had announced
the formal opening of his office on Gervais Street in Columbia; it had
been working out of part of Quinn's offices for some months. Also
during the summer Jim Merrill became state director. On Oct. 12 the
campaign announced county chairs in all 46 counties. Further South
Carolina experience came from McCain's national field director Trey Walker
who had served as executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party
for almost six years. Thus not only were the fundamentals in
place, but McCain came into the state with momentum from his thumping of
Governor George W. Bush in the New Hampshire primary.

South Carolina has in past GOP primaries
served as a "firewall" for frontrunners, and unfortunately for McCain the
firewall held. Bush too had a strong organization in the Palmetto
State. The campaign opened its headquarters on Devine Street in Columbia
on June 14, 1999; Heath Thompson, who served as chief of staff to Lt. Gov.
Bob Peeler and ran his reelection campaign in 1998, was state director.
Peeler and House Speaker David H. Wilkins served as co-chairs. Bush
enjoyed the backing of all three former Republican governors and Sen. Strom
Thurmond among others. After the New Hampshire drubbing, Bush rejiggered
his campaign, becoming the "Reformer with Results" and doing the town meeting
question and answer format that he had eschewed in New Hampshire.

A few mistakes cost McCain dearly.
For a time in February his campaign ran TV spots comparing Bush to President
Clinton, a severe insult among Republicans. (In "Trust" the announcer
asked "Do we really want another politician in the White House America
can't trust?" and in "Desperate" McCain himself stated, "His [Bush's] ad
twists the truth like Clinton.") This allowed Bush to defend his
integrity and hit back at McCain. Then, during the Feb. 15 BIPEC
debate McCain flatly denied a flyer was his that was in fact produced by
his campaign. Finally, whereas Bush was taking citizens' questions,
McCain seemed to be going the other direction, toward staged rallies.
Perhaps the campaign and the candidate were simply exhausted from their
New Hampshire effort.

In any event, what had been seen as a tight
contest turned out to be a fairly easy win for Bush. Bush fared particularly
well in the Greenville-Spartanburg area, while McCain's strongest showing
came from the counties along the coast.

Alan Keyes had an active campaign in South
Carolina; Hal Stevenson served as state chairman and Jennifer Hill as state
coordinator. The campaign was headquartered in the same building
as Stevenson's offices on Lincoln Street in Columbia.

Steve Forbes' and Gary Bauer's campaigns
had shut down by the time the campaign came to South Carolina. (Terry
Sullivan served as Forbes' state director and Tony Denny was senior advisor.
State Sen. Mike Fair of Greenville was Bauer's state chairman). Elizabeth
Dole and Dan Quayle had also been active in the state but had withdrawn
months earlier. (Dole had opened an office in the Lake Murray area
outside of Columbia on Oct. 13, 1999 just before she withdrew from the
race; State Sen. Andre Bauer served as her state director. Jim Merrill
headed Quayle's South Carolina effort before switching to McCain).

CD-1, which includes Charleston and Myrtle Beach, is represented by Mark
Sanford, one of two congressmen who endorsed Sen. McCain. It was
the only congressional district McCain carried, accounting for his 3 delegates.

CD-2 ranges from Columbia to Hilton Head Island and is represented by Floyd
Spence.

CD-3 covers 10 counties in the western part of the state and is represented
by Lindsey Graham, the most prominent of McCain's South Carolina supporters.

CD-4 covers the Greenville/Spartanburg area and is represented by Jim DeMint.
Gov. Bush fared best in this district, thumping McCain by a 58.4% to 35.4%
margin.

CD-5 is a rural district on the north-central border of the state; the
largest cities are Rock Hill and Sumter. Democrat John Spratt represents
the district.

CD-6, in central South Carolina, is represented by James E. Clyburn, a
Democrat.

Gov. Bush won in 38 of South Carolina's 46 counties. He obtained
more than 60% of the vote in 10 counties. Key counties in Bush's
win were his strong showings in Greenville (58.47% of 73,281 votes cast)
and Spartanburg (58.49% of 37,159 votes cast) counties as well as Lexington
(57.40% of 45,277 votes) and Aiken (55.64% of 23,701 votes) counties.
Sen. McCain won in all four coastal counties--Horry (53.23% of 27,735),
Georgetown (49.68% of 7,458), Charleston (49.75% of 47,269) and Beaufort
(53.16% of 21,212), in the sparsely populated counties of Abbeville, Chester
and Marlboro, and in the westernmost county of Oconee (McCain backer Lindsey
Graham hails from Seneca in Oconee County). Alan Keyes' best showings
were in three urban counties: Richland (7.25% of 44,811), Lexington (6.57%
of 45,277) and Greenville (6.46% of 73,281).